Sunday, December 27, 2020

Not a time for haggling over pennies

I use the "Make An Offer" feature on eBay frequently. I try not to low ball, as most of the cards I'm making offer are only a few bucks anyways. But if someone has a card for $4.99, why not see if I can get it for $3? At worst, I can usually get it for a few cents cheaper after seller counteroffer.

However, there are times when cards pop up that are rarely seen, and out of fear of missing out on the card, I immediately choose "Buy It Now" instead of hoping I can get it for $.75 less. The opportunity cost of missing out is too great.

That recently happened with two Tino Martinez cards that I rarely see pop up, so naturally they would within a week of each other. These are not high end. But they are cards I have been keenly aware of, yet rarely see.

The first is from a brand that keeps aging like a fine wine. Pacific! For years, Pacific had a "Latinos of the Major League" insert set. I was always a little confused by this set, as I felt it was unfair to peg these particular players because of their heritage. However, Pacific was geared toward a Spanish-speaking population for years, so perhaps it wasn't odd at all. I'd be curious as to what others think.
The other "Latinos of the Majors" cards from other years pop up a lot, but not this one from 1999 Pacific Crown. When I saw it for $2.99 or best offer, there was no time to haggle. I chucked it in my cart and checked out as fast as I could, although I still had time to got through Acorns to make sure I got my $.03 invested!

It's a beautiful card. A nice, textured foil with colors that really pop. Once again, Pacific designed a card that gets better in time.

The next is a rare card only in the sense that I never see it. I have plenty of the non-shiny base versions, but the Museum Collection never finds its way into my eBay feed. I finally snagged it for just over a buck, and again, no time to haggle over pennies.
This card has always been special to me, both from the HR Derby he won to the fact that it was the first card Tino ever signed TTM for me.

Sometimes you gotta jump at the chance and not hold out for a sale or a better price. It's not worth the agony over missing rare cards to get a slightly better price.

8 comments:

  1. Nice pickups! I don't blame you for jumping at these without haggling. I picked up some PC parallels on COMC that were probably overpriced because they hadn't surfaced in over 15 years.

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  2. I made an offer this week on a card. It was listed at $1.99. I offered $1.25--no response. So I offered $1.49--still no response. This time I took the hint. I can understand not taking the offer, but at least respond, maybe make a counter offer....

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  3. Congratulations on landing these two cards. I've been in the same situation where I'm afraid to submit a best offer... in case another collector hits the BIN button. But with my recent cutbacks... usually I just risk it and if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

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  4. This is a very happy story! Glad you landed these two. I wasn't really into baseball doing the "Goin' Jack" terminology and am glad I wasn't!

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  5. Haggling is overrated. Do you want the card or not? $4.99, $3, what's the diff? I can see if you're having difficulty making ends meet, but otherwise I think people get addicted to landing the best deals and they miss out on cards they want as a result.

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  6. I make offers a lot, I have too. I buy way too much, but I would have done the same thing on those Tino's. BIN can be a blessing.

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  7. I did this for a card on Sportlots recently, it's not as nice as these, but was still one that I hadn't seen come up before.

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  8. I definitely jump on cards that I never/rarely see. Hate to lose the chance.

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